
Broken Ground
A Novel
John Keeble(Author)
University of Washington Press
Will be published approx. on 18. October 2010
Book
Paperback/Softback
456 pages
978-0-295-99048-4 (ISBN)
Description
2011 Outstanding Title, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries
Broken Ground employs a construction project in the Oregon desert as the basis for a story with far-reaching political and moral implications. Hank Lafleur has been sent to supervise the project, which is a prison-for-profit financed by a multinational corporation under government contract, and meant to house felons, illegal immigrants, and, as Lafleur comes to learn, political prisoners from Latin America. Broken Ground is remarkable for its prophetic vision of the hollow securities promised by incarceration and of the effects of "privatization" as an armature of American imperialism - in both the domestic and international realms.
Visit the author's website: http://www.keeblefiction.com/
Broken Ground employs a construction project in the Oregon desert as the basis for a story with far-reaching political and moral implications. Hank Lafleur has been sent to supervise the project, which is a prison-for-profit financed by a multinational corporation under government contract, and meant to house felons, illegal immigrants, and, as Lafleur comes to learn, political prisoners from Latin America. Broken Ground is remarkable for its prophetic vision of the hollow securities promised by incarceration and of the effects of "privatization" as an armature of American imperialism - in both the domestic and international realms.
Visit the author's website: http://www.keeblefiction.com/
Reviews / Votes
"In John Keeble's extraordinary novel, Broken Ground, a social fable for our time, every element has its double in the illuminating realm of metaphor. . . . No other serious American novel has confronted so directly and so eerily the slithery power of corporate dominance over humble lives as well as over our changing, dehumanized landscape."- Lynne Sharon Schwartz (Hungry Mind Review) "Broken Ground rumbles with metaphor, and the book seems to propel itself toward revelations about our individual, collective, and national spirit."
- Tim Nolan (New York Times Book Review) "Thoughtful reading that will entertain as it enlightens, Broken Ground is quite the read, very highly recommended."
(Wisconsin Bookwatch) "It's a great Northwest novel, prescient in its themes and sharp in its execution."
(The Oregonian)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Seattle
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
2 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 202 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
517 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-295-99048-4 (9780295990484)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2014
1st Edition
University of Washington Press
€24.49
Available for download
Persons
John Keeble is the author of four novels, including Yellowfish and Broken Ground, a collection of short stories, Nocturnal America, and a work of nonfiction, Out of the Channel: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound.